


Tsunade & the Joy of Politics

by Sehin



Series: November 2020 One-Shots [25]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Follow-up to another story, He still has no name, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Konohamaru Sarutobi's father appears, Mentioned Gaara (Naruto), Mentioned Haruno Sakura, Mentioned Namikaze Minato - Freeform, Mentioned Uchiha Sasuke - Freeform, Mentioned Uzumaki Kushina, Mentioned Uzumaki Naruto, My OC just drives everyone to just do it, Naruto's smile moves mountains, Not Beta Read, Other, Politics, Shameless usage of an OC, Well a lot of people, Who Protected Naruto when He was Little?, more or less
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27709634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sehin/pseuds/Sehin
Summary: If Tsunade thought council meetings were only ever exciting when Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane actually disagreed with Danzo Shimura on certain matters, she was clearly mistaken.*    -    *    -    *    -    *Konoha's politics are bad, imagine dropping someone in to cause chaos and help Naruto from the inside, and reeks of resentment to Danzo, Homura and Koharu. Yeah, you get Tsunade and the rest of the Council watching this new clan head make the old fools realise they are paranoid wrecks.Shameless usage of my personal OC.Set during Part II.
Relationships: Tsunade & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: November 2020 One-Shots [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994803
Kudos: 13





	Tsunade & the Joy of Politics

If Tsunade thought council meetings were only ever exciting when Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane actually disagreed with Danzo Shimura on certain matters, she was clearly mistaken.

The Konoha Council consisted of the Hokage, three elected advisors and eight heads of the major clans of the village. In truth, it had only been seven since the Uchiha clan had been wiped out eight years ago but it didn't mean the balance was off that much. The Nara and Hyuga rarely voted, preferring to abstain on almost everything. The Akimichi and Yamanaka tended to side with the Nara in doing nothing. The Sarutobi and Miura sided with the Hokage and the Aburame changed sides depending whether in benefitted them of not. There were days when Tsunade wished she could've promoted other clans including the Inuzuka, Lee and Kato to the Council but she realised that it would just lead to more chaos. And all the while, the Uchiha seat remained empty.

Then only two months ago, the heir to the Miura had turned eighteen and thus had been named head of his clan. And he proved more than a match for everyone older than him, enough to convince the usually neutral clans and even the Aburame to side with the Hokage whether they wanted to or not. It wasn't helped that he usually insisted on having Tsunade's apprentice and her original team sensei regularly along.

Shirou Miura had brown hair and dark eyes, a middle ground between brown and black that it was hard to tell which was which. He'd inherited his hair colour and lean from both his parents, who were fifth cousins four times removed, while his eyes were solely from his mother, who was half-Uchiha on her mother's side and closely linked to the main family before the massacre. Shirou never wore a council robe, preferring instead to wear his combat clothing - black pants and long-sleeve top, the black vest with gray neck line, his navy blue headband with the Konoha symbol and his black open-toed shoes. When Homura and Koharu had demanded he wear the robes as a sign of respect to the body he was on, the teenager had simply replied: "Respect is earned, elders. Too bad I already gave it out."

Tsunade remembered the fact it cracked up Hiashi Hyuga and Shibi Aburame, much to everyone's surprise as the former was noted for being rather hard and firm while the latter hailed from a clan that had practically had never heard of emotion. The annoying trio as she referred to Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi, had then gone about following the same thing. Hiruzen's eldest son, whom Tsunade had forgotten his name of, even cracked up laughing behind his ANBU mask. She could've sworn that the ghost of Fugaku Uchiha was chuckling from the Uchiha seat.

* - * - * - *

Today was no different. Danzo had brought up a proposal to expand the militarisation of the Shinobi Corps, leading to a more stream-lined and rather lackluster education program at the Academy for younger students while turning the four-person active genin teams in training regiments under several jounin rather than one. This was supported by Homura and Koharu, which didn't surprise the blonde Hokage, and they believed it was beneficial to the ongoing security of the village, particularly after what Suna and Oto had done three years ago. Shikaku and Hiashi opposed it, believing it would break the power of teamwork and cause more orphans to be taken care of. Surprisingly, Shibi Aburame and Sarutobi weren't ready to offer an opinion until they studied it further. Then came Shirou's turn and he didn't know whether to laugh or through the proposal on the ground, judging from his face. When he stood up to speak, Tsunade sat back and glanced at Shizune and Kakashi, who had been invited to this one.

"Danzo," Shirou began, picking up the proposal. "If I wanted toilet paper, I wouldn't have bothered shopping this morning for it."

What skin could be seen on the old man's face went red. The two elders on his side also did so.

"Quite frankly if the village needed to be militarised, and thus marginalising our civilian population even more, not to mentioned isolating the larger clans such as the Hyuga and mine," Shirou continued, using his left hand to flick the paper. "Then the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha would've done it at our founding nearly seventy years ago. Or when the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars happened. Right now, we have peace and our numbers are stronger than ever, particularly with Naruto Uzumaki's growing ability."

_Ah,_ Tsunade thought, a glance to the silver-haired jounin indicating he was aware what was coming. _Of course Shirou would bring up Naruto now. He's been agitating for months about it._

"We must prepare for war, Shirou," the old man opposite the younger at the table replied. "Or for another invasion from the other hidden villages."

"Why?" Shirou asked. "Suna is our ally now and the Land of Wind has dealt with the grievances that caused it. Orochimaru is practically useless, even if he does take the last Uchiha's body, and Oto is too small and scattered across the continent to cause problems again."

"You don't know that," Homura said. "The other Kages have long being jealous of Konoha. If we aren't prepared, then we risk being wiped out."

"Really?" Shikaku Nara asked. "Kumo has its own issues, Kiri is rebuilding and Iwa is practically bored with fighting anyone. Ame is under the control of the Akatsuki and the other hidden villages won't even unite enough to boost their numbers."

"Shirou Miura does present a point." Sarutobi spoke behind his mask. "We have done enough to ensure that what Suna and Oto did won't catch us completely by surprise. We actually work closely with Suna enough that we are practically friends."

"Just cause the current Kazekage and his siblings are friends of some of our jounin and chunin doesn't mean the rest of the village doesn't want to wipe us out." Koharu replied.

"And yet," Shirou spoke up. "It is the next generation who prospers with this alliance. And without one in particular, we would have suffered the wrath of the One-Tailed Demon Tanuki. Or did you forget that until recently Gaara was a jinchuuriki?"

Everyone went silent and the teen continued. "We have enough active shinobi to patrol and protect the village and we only do missions outside the country with those places without active shinobi villages, sometimes allied with Suna or several minor ones. Iruka Umino and the other instructors also fixed up the Academy program to focus on teamwork in addition to more practical skills that relate to assignments instead of merely forming a competitive situation that results in damaging rivalries and more defections. Mizuki, Kabuto Yakushi and his team as well Sasuke Uchiha being the lastest examples of that flawed position."

A glance at Danzo indicated that Kabuto's defection had hit a nerve. Rumours she'd heard from Raido Namiashi and Captain Yamato indicated the old man had been involved in Yakushi's early life.

"Also, the treatment of certain individuals in our village has being practically reversed now. And one particular genin is benefitting from it more than anything." Shirou was practically smiling.

"Only because certain people broke established rules surrounding Uzumaki," Koharu was growling.

Hiashi Hyuga's eyebrows rose. "I'm afraid I maybe missing something," he spoke. "What is it about Naruto Uzumaki that this Council is hiding."

Tsunade agreed that Hiashi had a fair point. He could only think that the only members of the Council present sixteen years ago concerning Naruto. Then again, he's only recently began to push for reforms surrounding his own clan and his daughters thanks to Naruto.

Shirou's smile disappeared and his dark eyes grew darker. "This Council decided sixteen years ago to leak information that Naruto was the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi while pretending he was just an orphan baby the Fourth Hokage conveniently found the night the demon was unleashed upon the village. The Third Hokage tried to mitigate the damage, as did my father and even Fugaku Uchiha," he lifted his left hand to the three elders. "Those three, along with the heads of the other clans at the time decided to outmaneuver the three of them. Fugaku's wife and my parents offered to adopt Naruto Uzumaki to at least allow him to raise him in a safe home and they had the support of the Third. But the Uchiha were banned for their apparent involvement in the Kyuubi attack and the death of the Fourth Hokage, owing to their disappearance during the night and not helping to fight the demon off. My clan was banned because of our association to the Uchiha and the Third was left in an impossible position."

Sarutobi's mask moved towards the teen. "Raise Naruto as quickly as possible and make sure he was independent in his personal residence," the masked man spoke. "And then make sure he had the protection of the ANBU and other shinobi directly under the Third and not the Council."

Shikaku smiled. "Surprised you are aware of that."

The masked man chuckled. "You'd be amazed what my father's notes had on the entire matter. Of course, he still feels he did let Naruto down. I didn't care, I had my son and my assignments. Kind of glad though that Naruto got Konohamaru to get his head out of his butt. My son is going to surpass me easily one day now."

"He certainly has had a great deal of influence," Shibi Aburame added. "After all, the main Hyuga seems to have gotten less confrontational with the branches."

Hiashi nodded. "That boy is certainly something."

"So you are saying we should place our trust in Naruto Uzumaki?" Homura asked. "Despite his record in the Academy and even as a shinobi?"

Shirou's dark eyes landed on the old woman. "He is a young man worthy of my respect. And my friendship. Not to mention that of his teammate Sakura Haruno, his father's student and the members of the Konoha 11 in addition to the Suna siblings, many Academy students, the families of his former classmates, Danzo's little agent Sai," his face moved briefly to Danzo and gave a smirk before turning back to Koharu. "Lady Tsunade, the people of Wave and surprisingly, Orochimaru."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "What?"

The teen's eyes lowered and he sighed. "If you had been there when we found Sasuke Uchiha, I think your former teammate respected Naruto enough for his strength, even though he was driven crazy by the Kyuubi's influence and nearly killed the Snake Sannin. I think it might have broken through his madness slightly."

Tsunade glanced at Kakashi, who wasn't present, but had heard from Yamato about the mission. In fact, he started training the boy in a new form of the rasengan. Then something Shirou said clicked.

"You said 'his father's student'?" Tsunade asked.

Shirou nodded.

"What do you mean by that?" Shikaku Nara asked.

The teen smirked. "The thing that the Third tried to hide and fail, despite how obvious it was given his surname," he then looked at the elders. "Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage and his lover Kushina Uzumaki."

Shirou then rummaged through his paperwork and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is his birth certificate, signed by Biwako Sarutobi on the night of October 11th, Year 50 of Village Founding. Someone's being keeping secrets that seriously hurt our village's credibility. Though considering THIS council's involvement in the Hyuga Affair in 53 and the Uchiha Massacre in 58, I'm not surprised by this."

Danzo growled. "Are you blackmailing this council?"

"No," Shirou said. "I'm only reminding you what would happen if this got out. The repercussions would have a severe impact on the village. Particularly with how people here treated the son of the Fourth Hokage from the moment of his birth."

Danzo sighed. "What do you propose?"

Shirou smirked. "I thought you'd never ask."

* - * - * - *

If Tsunade thought council meetings were only ever exciting when Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane actually disagreed with Danzo Shimura on certain matters, she was clearly mistaken.

In all honesty, she couldn't wait for Naruto to finally join the Council now when he was considered fit for the role by either Tsunade or her CHOSEN successor. Because if Shirou Miura could cause so much grief for the elders and thus fully turn the six other clan heads against them for a few votes, she could only imagine what the blond kid would do with his charisma and honesty when it was approached for politics.

Years later, Naruto proved just how it was during a brief stint on the Council and eventually when Kakashi Hatake chose him as Hokage straight afterwards.

It was too bad Danzo didn't leave to see that. Homura and Koharu had and afterwards they had come to Tsunade and said they were glad the pair and Danzo were outmaneuvered that day, because they actually saw a chance for the village to survive after they were retired, even if their successors were even more of pain in the backside than they were to her and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

_Karma is a bitch,_ Tsunade once thought to herself. _And Shirou Miura was its avatar. Or at least the servant of the true one standing there today, holding my title._

As she watched the blond wave, with Kakashi and Shirou standing in the background, she was glad she made it out of those meetings alive back then. Because it sure as hell wouldn't have been as exciting as trying to fight Madara Uchiha during a war.

**Author's Note:**

> The politics of Konoha, and even the Council, are confusing. What power do the clan heads have in regards to what can be said and unsaid in the village's running. What is their role to the Hokage and their three principle advisors? Who are the leading clans with more power over that of the others? What role did the Uchiha have before they were wiped out?
> 
> Those are questions unanswered so I was simple. The Konoha Council consists of twelve members (eleven at present) - the Hokage, their three principle advisors and the heads of the eight (seven) powerful clans in the village (they being the Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Sarutobi, Aburame and Miura [the OC's clan]). There is likely a larger Council as it were consisting of the other clans such as the Haruno, Lee, Tenten's Clan, Inuzuka, Hatake (though really Kakashi) and the assorted others so this is like the Inner Council of those with any major power to decide village relations and strength while the other bickers about how to run the village's infrastructure.
> 
> To best explain my OC, his clan helped to protect Naruto from physical abuse but couldn't prevent the verbal abuse. Shirou, who is a year and ten months older, often went out of his way even as a child to protect Naruto but couldn't approach him due to a stupid mandate that prevented the Uchiha and Miura from being physically near him. Sarutobi was almost certainly afraid about the obvious connection to the Fourth he didn't want Mikoto or the Miuras to be near him (Not that it made a difference). Shirou himself went on to be a shinobi and after the Wave mission became an extra member to Team 7, teaching Naruto more about shadow clone techniques (since his clan formed the basis for the Shadow Clone under Tobirama Senju who perfected it). To date, this is the first time I have used him and I figured why not. It helps to pull a trigger that eventually leads to Naruto's rise to Hokage in the political side since we know his heroic side and service as a ninja will eventually give him the role.
> 
> I am also somewhat implying that Hiashi Hyuga's father and the fathers of the other Council members (except Konohamaru's dad) were involved in what happened to Naruto and eventually all the other crap decisions made in Konoha until the Uchiha Massacre.
> 
> I actually think the masked shinobi at the Council meeting following Pain's attack is Konohamaru's dad. He wears it as an ANBU and tends to forget to take it off. Oh and if anyone has a fan name for Konohamaru's dad (I like using Osamu but kept it out), would love to hear it.
> 
> Anyway, review and kudos. Just one comment and one kudos is enough for me to smile :)


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